Pg:History of the Kurathene Empire

Once the grandest and largest nation on Avlis, the Kurathene Empire is now a broken shell of its former glory. The history of the empire is generally divided into four periods: The Early Period, The Mortal Period, The Kurathene Period, and The Dark Period.

The Early Period, 500 Pre-war thru 200 Pre-war

When Mikon created the humans of Avlis, they managed to spread out on the planet very quickly. One particular people, called the Romini, were particularly good at spreading. When they reached the plains of what would be the empire, they found a land with fertile soil and wide open spaces, populated with all kinds of grazing herd animals which they would eventually domesticate.

These people found that making a living on this land was relatively easy for larger populations, and in two particular areas, one in the center of the landmass and one towards the south, there were large rivers coming out of the mountains to the east, and these served as a means of sustenance as well.

Over a relatively quick period of time, roughly 100 years, these humans were able to spread over most of the area, even into the far northern tundra. At the same time the humans were spreading through this area, another race was also making its way there, the dracon. The humans and the dracon immediately set off on a peaceful relationship upon meeting. The dracon were hard workers and very organized worshippers of the god Toran. The humans were very hardy and intelligent worshippers of Mikon, though they were not nearly as steadfast in their religious ways as the dracon. Together, the two races began to create settlements throughout the area.

During this time period there was no major overlying organization to these peoples. They did not see themselves as a nation, but rather as a collection of related peoples living over a wide plain.

The Mortal Period, 200 Pre-war thru 15 Post-war

For a time, these peoples lived in peace without the need for greater organization, however with the beginning of the Fairy War that would change. The Fairy War was a strange war as far as they go, because the fairies of O'Ma and Titania did not have any particular country or land area that they each lived in. Fairies are indigenous to all areas of Avlis, both on water and on land, and they spread even faster than the humans when all of their species are taken into account as a whole. So when this war began, every country in the world found itself stuck with large clashes between the two kinds of fairies right in their own backyards. Many innocent bystanders among the humans and dracon perished in this clash before anything was done about it.

However, finally something was to be done. The dracon of this new land insisted that all of them unite and organize against the fairies, as their other dracon brethren had done to the south in what is now known as Toran Shaarda, the land of the dracon. Not being the type to want to lead, if they could help it, the dracon wanted to organize under a human leadership which would systematically put an end to the fairy conflicts on their soil. Reluctantly, the humans agreed. A large gathering of all the towns and settlements of the plains was formed, and after a long discussion aided by the dracon, they agreed to unite into one entity for the purpose of protecting themselves against the fairies. There was some disagreement about how long this unity would last. Some thought that they were actually forming a nation, while others believed that the unity was more like a mutual protection pact that would expire if and when the Fairy War ended. That disagreement was glossed over, and the humans picked a leader named Tomil Kurath, and he received the title of Overseer.

Tomil Kurath's job was not easy. From these loosely aligned peoples and species, he tacked together an army, which he had trained by the dracon. He also founded a new settlement towards the center of the plains area, where he could base this army and have them respond rapidly to any threat. For 20 years he reigned as overseer, and in those 20 years he became very highly regarded for his work. Fairy clashes were almost non-existent in his lands at the end of his reign, and the peoples of the settlements were all thankful to call him their leader. Like all men, Tomil Kurath became old and passed away at a ripe age, yet the Fairy War still raged. 25 years was the blink of an eye to those longer lived races, and the war still had to be dealt with. Thus, Tomil Kurath's son, Mantith, came to power.

Mantith was actually elected and condoned by the settlements, for he was the next most qualified person for the job. Over his reign, he took measures to increase the rapidity of repsonse of the army to situations by building roads out of his father's settlement, now called Centerpoint. The glory of his reign lasted another 15 years, until he died an untimely death while intervening in an attack by the O'Ma fairies on a Titanian settlement. To this point, the Kurath's had ruled for 40 years, and the word "Overseer" was disappearing from the short memory of the humans and dracon. Most people just called their leader "The Kurath", and by the time two more Kurath sons had succeeded their father, the leader was simply given the name "Kuras".

The Fairy War went on for another 60 years (and 6 Kuras leaders) after the death of Mantith. The only reprieve came at the beginning of the Great War, which started when the orcs assaulted the fairies of both sides. The Great War was somewhat of a nonentity for the reigning Kuras, because it was brewing on the opposite side of the continent. In reality, its outbreak was seen as a good thing in the newly formed Kurathene Republic, which formed during the same year. Upon the first agressions of the Great War, the fairies immediately stopped fighting one another, and this produced a calm over the entire plains nation, for they no longer had to deal with keeping their land free of bloodshed. This marked a golden era for that country because it gave them time to form a new government and to grow their economy and culture. They were no longer a struggling mass of settlements trying to keep safe from two factions that warred around them. They were now a nation with a well-established and well-trained army, and they were ready to grow out of their defensive war mentality.

The Kurathene Republic blazed new trails in government for its day. Up to that point, each settlement had no real say in matters of the whole, because everything was dealt with militarily. Those settlements that produced more soldiers had more say, so long as it did not go against the orders of the top military commander who was the Kuras. Now things were different. There was peace, and each settlement began to see its own small identity as a part of the whole. They desired to help steer the direction of the new Republic so its resources could be maximized and they could be at their best. From this idea came a new system whereby each settlement picked a leader to represent them, and all of those leaders sat on the Kurathene Council, which worked closely in deciding matters alongside the Kuras himelf. In addition to the Council, the Church of Toran became an influential power, for as time went on, control of the military shifted from the Kuras, to them. Essentially, the Church of Toran was made to run the military and report directly to the Kuras, instead of the Kuras having to run it all himself, because there was little time to run both the military and the Republic.

For about 50 years, and 4 Kuras leaders, this system was allowed to develop into a solid government, and it was now looking as if many of the Council positions were becoming hereditary, a trend that would continue in the years to come. This organization of government peaked right at the time the Great War reached the borders of the Republic. The new nation would now spend the next 150 years trying to keep that war out of their borders. They remained a neutral party throughout, and catered to both sides in trade, which made them very rich.

75 years after the war began, there were many minor skirmishes with the orcs and the other races involved in the war. People in the Republic were getting a bit tired of the fighting, but their sense of neturality prevailed by a thread, mainly because of the worship of Mikon by the humans. Mikon saw the war against the orcs as unbalanced, and when he created the evil dragons to smooth out the sides a little, the humans of the Republic were blamed for it by the elves and dwarves. This made for even icier relations with their neighbors.

Around this time, a new Kuras came to power, and his name was Joral Kuras. Joral was a great warrior, and took every chance he could get to wade into battle wherever it was found within his borders. For a few years, he reigned effectively and managed to preserve the order of things in the Republic, but his distaste for the Council was well known. He saw them as an obstacle for organization rather than an aide.

Then disaster struck. The orc mages, who were now all concentrated in an area just south of the Republic, decided to make a last ditch effort to save their people from being driven into the sea by unleashing an evocation spell of great power. When the spell backfired and caused an explosion unlike any other seen on Avlis before or since, the effect on the Republic was devastating. The landscape was scarred, and tens of thousands of citizens of the Republic were incinerated or worse.

Joral Kuras was wounded in that explosion, but he survived. However, the chaos that was to follow within his realm was not as easy as what just happened. A large number of the southern and eastern province leaders were engaged in a party that day, and the explosion wiped them out. This sent many of the provinces into anarchy. Many blamed Joral for not stopping the explosion. Others just wanted to know why he did not catch wind of it and warn people, even if he couldn't stop it.

Through a long series of events, most of those leaderless provinces broke away from the Republic. This instability led other provinces in the North and West also to seceed. Joral Kuras was left with nothing but a small concentration of powerful provinces around Centerpoint. This confusion also had a bad effect on the dracon, for they were unsure which way to go, and which side to take. They weren't concerned so much about who was right or wrong. They were just confused as to what action to take for their armies and how to divide them up.

Joral Kuras was determined to reunite the Republic, but in his own way. His first step was to placate the dracon. He did this by taking on the worship of Toran, and publically declaring Toran, and not Mikon, to be the god of HIS nation. All of the dracon now had a rallying point, and many of the humans, who were very angry with what Mikon had let happen, were also convinced to follow Kuras for this. Joral renamed Centerpoint, calling it Kuras, after his title, and he declared it to be the new capitol of the nation he was about to build. Those who followed Joral on this crusade adored him, and took up his rallying cry.

Slowly, over the next 15 years, Joral reconquered the entire former area of the Republic. His armies of dracon and humans swept through the meager defenses of the provinces. Each conquered province was placed under the control of a vassal who was loyal to Kuras and Kuras alone. The vassals swore fealty to Kuras, and vowed to uphold his rule.

When it was all over, Joral Kuras was an Immortal who controlled the entire plains, and he declared himself Emperor of the new Kurathene Empire, with Toran as its patron god. Thus begins the Kurathene Period.

The Kurathene Period, 15 Post-war thru 1825 Post-war

The Kurathene Period is too lengthy to go into here. In short, Emperor Kuras was the sole immortal ruler of the Empire, and he stayed in power the whole time. As a leader, he was very stern, but not oppresive. He allowed people their freedoms, but he insisted that they be loyal to him. Vassals became full nobles in this period, and their hereditary lines were preserved as best as possible. Kuras always made sure that he let them accumulate their own wealth and power, while still remaining his underlings. At various times, noble families were replaced when they got out of hand.

Meanwhile, Kuras tried to gain power for himself. He was disturbed that his lands were surrounded by nations that were too well-entrenched to take over, however, he also was wise enough to realize that owning those nations would not get him anything but a group of unwilling citizens for the most part. So Kuras did not venture forth much out of his own lands, and instead concentrated on personal power by collecting valuable objects of art, magic, and assorted treasures.

One particular artifact which he obtained after great adventure was a sceptre of immense power. Its name was Godslayer, for it was rumored to have the ability to banish a god's influence from the land. The sceptre became his right of office, and his most prized possession.

Unfortunately, such a powerful artifact is not without a price. The magic of his artifact only served to increase his lust for power, and to ascend himself to a position alongside the major gods.... or even above them. Many of the gods were concerned about this, though only O'Ma was brave enough to send an avatar to retrieve the sceptre from Kuras. Unfortunately, O'Ma lost the encounter. In the fight that ensued, Kuras hit O'Ma withe sceptre and drove his influence from the world, driving the fairy population and O'Ma's faithful into darkness.

The chaos that followed that event alerted many people, and one of them was a very powerful mage named Nemeril. It is not known where Nemeril came from, or even if he was of this world, but Nemeril was able to slay Kuras and take the sceptre. Along with the sceptre, he took Kuras' throne and declared himself Emperor of the Kurathene. Thus ended the Kurathene Period.

The Dark Period

The Empire was under Nemeril for maybe a day and a half. For owning a device of that magnitude gains one many powerful foes. In that one day, Nemeril fought no fewer than 5 opponents who would have the sceptre. The last one was a powerful mortal named Angadar. The limits of his power were not certain, but it was known that in addition to his formidable magical ability, Angadar was possessed with substantial mental powers, as well as some peculiar dragon-like qualities that no one was certain of their origin. Nemeril and Angadar fought in the City of Kuras, and the battle brought down the Palace, levelling it. In the end, Angadar was victorious and claimed the sceptre as his own.

The retainers around him then declared him Emperor, for they were leaderless and needed someone to follow, however Angadar refused the throne. He did not want to be an Emperor... he had other plans.

Through another series of events, Angadar was forced to return the sceptre to the gods. He also brought back O'Ma to Avlis, and made an enemy of Titania in doing so.

The Empire now had no leader, and no one strong enough to ascend the ruined throne. Squabbling between the provinces erupted for Kuras had no heirs. Soon, all out war broke free, and the fiefdoms of the Empire split into smaller vassallships.

These independent fiefdoms still vie for control of the empire to this day, but none has been strong enough to unite them once again.